Earlier this year, the New York state legislature passed Erin's Law. It mandates schools implement a child sex abuse prevention plan.

It won't go into effect until next school year starts, but on Monday, the founder of the law was in Saratoga Springs to present at the New York state Children's Alliance Leadership Conference.

Erin's law is now in 37 states across the country and Erin Merryn, the founder of Erin's Law and a survivor of child sex abuse says if she had had this training as a kid, she would've disclosed sooner to stop her abuse.

"I was constantly threatened, 'this our little secret' [and] 'No one will believe you,' and I believed them," Merryn said.

Erin Merryn was sexually abused at a sleepover at just six-years-old and then again by a family member from the time she was 11 until she was 13. She was writing about the abuse in a diary she kept locked away.

Then when Merryn was 13, her sister broke her silence: She was also being abused by the same family member.

"And so we both came forward," Merryn said.

From there, Merryn says she and her sister were taken to a child advocacy center where they were helped. Merryn presented at the New York state Children's Alliance Leadership Conference on Monday sharing her story and about how the advocacy center helped her heal.

As an adult, she made her traumatic experience into a mission to prevent it from happening to other kids. 

"As crazy as it sounds I wouldn't change my past because of the significant change it is making in children's lives," Merryn said.

Merryn says the road to getting Erin's Law passed in New York was tough. It took 11 years.

"I don't give up and I tell these legislators, 'I'm not going away, you're eventually going to get sick of me, so just pass this law.​' So now that New York has done it, I'm like, 'Yes!'" Merryn said.

Merryn also worked closely with advocates on the Child Victims Act and says the importance of both getting passed during this session isn't lost on her, but she wishes Erin's Law was already in effect. Gov. Cuomo didn't sign the bill until the end of August, well past the July 1 deadline which would've required schools to implement the training this year.

"I cannot wait 'til that day comes when this law is finally being taught and those articles are coming out that a child disclosed because of this law and I can send it to those legislators and say, 'See. It worked,'" Merryn said.

Merryn has three girls of her own back in the suburbs of Chicago near where she grew up and says her advocacy is all coming full circle with them. She got a letter that her kindergartener, the first of her kids in school, would be taught Erin's Law. Her daughter had a personal body safety lesson just last week.

"And my five-year-old comes in and goes, 'Mom, she taught us your law. And I was going to raise my hand tell her, 'You're talking about Erin's Law!'" Merryn said.

Merryn has written three books on her experience and has a fourth on her very Instagram famous cat, Bailey. Merryn tells me she was contacted by a national talk show who was interested in Bailey and her other cat Carrot. They had no idea she was the name behind Erin's Law.

She thinks it's an open another door to help get Erin's Law traction in the 13 states which haven't passed it yet.